A private sector led campaign to promote hope and peace for development through Vision 2030 Unveiled

By Eric Akasa

A private sector and faith-based campaign has been unveiled today geared at promoting hope for the sake of peace ahead of the forthcoming general elections and beyond.

The Amani Kenya 2030 will seek to promote hope for the sake of peace and development with an ultimate goal to maintain the momentum on implementing Vision 2030 goals.

Speaking in Nairobi during the launch of the Amani 2030 Kenya 2030 campaign, Chairperson James Mageria explained that the campaign had been developed to provide a catalyst for Kenyans to become actively involved and intrinsically motivated to working towards the realization of Vision 2030.

Judging from the recent opening of Thika highway and Syokimau Commuter rail station, Mageria notes that Kenya has continued to register significant gains in the implementation of Vision 2030 goals.

 “Amani Kenya 2030 is a campaign to promote hope for the sake of peace and development for a better quality of life for all Kenyans, as outlined in Vision 2030, through which Kenya is progressively transforming into a middle-income economy in the next eighteen years,” Mageria saiys.

 “As friends of Vision 2030, we acknowledge that the government and various implementing partners have made significant strides towards this goal. Therefore we can draw hope that Kenya is changing for the better. Now, more than ever, we need to bring this message of hope to all Kenyans and urge them to jealously guard this progress by remaining peaceful through the precarious electoral period ahead.” This will enable the country to preserve the gains made and to realize the long-term benefits of Vision 2030.” He adds.

The Amani Kenya 2030 campaign will be steered by several stakeholders including the Private sector, government, civil society, religious leaders, ordinary citizens and all people of goodwill.

The campaign will further seek to sensitize and drum up mass support leading to active participation of all Kenyans in establishing prosperous, peaceful and democratic society through individual commitment and active participation ahead of the 2013 polls and beyond.

According to Mageria, Amani Kenya 2030, will further seek to play a critical role in to creating awareness of Vision 2030 – in order to call for participation of all Kenyans because it is not designated to a single institution or individual.

“Failure to uphold our constitutionally enshrined national value systems which are critical for national growth, had led to the regrettable acts of hooliganism and even erosion of national security systems authority leading to loss of human life,” Mageria noted. “With Amani Kenya 2030, we are taking a conscious step to remind all Kenyans of their national responsibility as patriots. We are all Kenyans in one country, and much like a ship, we shall sail or sink together.”

In order to achieve this level of awareness, Amani Kenya 2030 will be facilitating collaboration, dialogue, and unity between stakeholders and creating awareness to the grassroots. To achieve this mission, several programmes have been planned which will be aimed at:  empowering Kenyans and leaders towards achieving Vision 2030, mobilization of Kenyans to participate, policy advocacy and networking among stakeholders and other peace initiatives.

Speaking at the launch of Amani Kenya 2030, Director General of the Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat, Mugo Kibati, welcomed the support of the private sector and faith-based organisations in facilitating a conducive environment for the implementation and attainment of Vision 2030 goals.

“Beyond countrywide infrastructure development, fertilizer price subsidies, building new schools, recruiting teachers and building model health centres in every constituency are among the notable Vision 2030 projects now under way across the entire country,’’ Kibati remarks.

 “At the secretariat, we welcome such initiatives which are key in entrenching and extending ownership of Vision 2030 to all Citizens.” Kibati adds.

Amani Kenya 2030 will strive to promote the participation of all Kenyans in achieving Vision 2030 by facilitating collaboration, dialogue, and unity between stakeholders and creating awareness to drive acceptance and commitment towards achieving the national vision.

The initiative has lined up key events including a 40 days National Prayer and fasting period that is ongoing across various religious groups to entrench its overall peace building goals and promote national values.

A National peace summit dubbed Amani Kenya 2030 Summit is also scheduled for next month to deliberate and seek home-grown solutions for boosting peace building initiatives, empowering peace ambassadors and setting the stage for conversations on economic growth from the county-level based on Kenya’s development vision 2030 blueprint.